


The Only Alien On the Planet

by nicky_writes



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Adoptive Parents - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Ben Solo is kind of an asshole in this, F/M, Finn Needs A Hug, Finn/Rey - Freeform, Finnrey, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Leia is Super Mom, Mental Health Issues, Mental Institutions, Past Abuse, Poe is an amazing friend, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, She is our Space Mom 5-ever, mute character, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2019-09-25 18:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicky_writes/pseuds/nicky_writes
Summary: After Rey moves across the country to a small town along the East Coast of America, she meets a boy named Finn who doesn't talk. For as long as anyone can remember, he has never said a word. Against all odds, though, Rey finds herself growing closer and closer to a boy she can't truly ever get to know.





	1. Chapter 1. First Day

Rey let out a huff as she dropped the last of the boxes onto the floor of her new room, settling her hands on her hips afterwards and taking a long look at the space. White walls, beige carpet, a window that looked out over the street in front of her house. She still caught herself listening for the train that would run past her family’s apartment back in California, but it was unlikely she’d hear anything of the sort in the quiet suburb her parents had dragged her to. No, all that she could hear was her mom and dad’s muffled voices coming from downstairs, no doubt discussing which room to start unpacking first. 

Slowly walking over to the bed her dad had just finished putting back together, Rey lowered herself onto her bare mattress and checked her phone, feeling a stab of sorrow as she glanced over her lock screen. It was a picture of her and her friends that had been taken on the beach over a year ago at the end of 10th grade. They’d driven for hours to get to the West Coast, and her friend Jessica had tried for the first and last time to teach her how to surf – after her 11th time wiping out, Rey had decided it wasn’t for her. 

“Rey? Are you hungry?” 

Hurrying to put her phone away, Rey pretended like she’d been unpacking her box of books, shuffling over to her shelf with a handful of them just as her mom poked her head into her room. 

“Your father and I are going to order pizza. What kind would you like?” Jyn asked, leaning against the doorway. 

“I don’t think I can eat right now,” Rey murmured, not even lifting her eyes up from the book in her hands. 

She heard her mother sigh and walk towards her, and she forced herself not to react when she felt a warm hand settle on her shoulder. 

“Rey, I know you’re not happy about moving-“ 

“Then why did we do it? Why are we here?” Rey demanded, finally looking up into her mother’s eyes. She saw a flare of frustration and braced herself for another one of their fights, but just as quickly as she spotted it, she watched it die away, only to be replaced with a tired, defeated expression that she didn’t like to see on her mom’s face, even if they weren’t currently getting along. 

“You know why, Rey,” Jyn replied. “The business just…wasn’t working. We couldn’t afford to live in California anymore.” 

“So we had to move all the way across the country?” Rey asked, though she knew her voice was sounding less angry by the second. They’d been having this same conversation for months, and even though she still wished with all her heart that she was still in San Diego, she was getting just as tired of fighting as her parents were. 

“Your father’s parents are here; they can help us as we get the shop up and running. We can’t do this on our own anymore. You know that.” 

Feeling her heart clench in her chest, Rey took a shaky breath and set her book on the top shelf. As she did, she heard her mom let out a soft chuckle. 

“Arabian Nights? We used to read that to you when you were a little girl,” Jyn reminisced. “You always wanted your father to read it to you, though. You said his voices were better than mine.” 

“They were,” Rey recalled, feeling her lips twitch up at the memory. “But your voice always helped me fall asleep the fastest.” 

“Because it’s boring?” 

“Because it’s soft,” Rey corrected. The silence stretched on between them until her mother’s arms wrapped around her from behind. No words were needed as she leaned back into the embrace, and when Jyn finally pulled away, she felt as if she were lighter. She hadn’t forgiven her parents fully yet, but she was starting to understand that this had had to happen. She didn’t like it, and as soon as she was old enough, she was still going to go back to California for college. 

But while her life was stuck here, in this small town along the east coast, she was going to make the best of it. 

________________

The first day of school had never been nerve-wracking for Rey. She’d always had her group of friends, and even though she hadn’t been friends with everyone in her grade, she’d known enough people to feel comfortable in all her classes. So she was entirely unprepared for the butterflies that were currently batting around in her rib cage as she walked up her new school’s front steps, her backpack thumping against her shoulders as she made her way into the gym for her class assignments. 

Her hands wrung the material of her loose-fitting t-shirt as she took her seat in the gymnasium, watching the throng of students mill about as they tried to spot each other’s friends among the bleachers. She felt a pang of envy as they hugged one another, reunited after the seemingly endless summer. 

“Are you new?” 

Looking up, Rey watched as a pretty Asian girl took a seat next to her, a pair of thick-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose as a small smile sat upon her lips. Rey returned it, watching as the girl sat her over-stuffed backpack at her feet. 

“Is it that easy to tell?” 

“Well, you are sitting here all alone,” the girl shrugged. “And, plus, I didn’t recognize you from last year. What’s your name?” 

“I’m Rey.” 

“Welcome, Rey,” the girl beamed, holding out her hand. Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Rey shook it, not able to remember the last time someone her age shook her hand. “I’m Rose.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Rose.” 

“Ditto! So where are you from?” 

“San Diego,” Rey answered. Just as Rose was about to give her response, a middle-aged man in a grey suit stepped out into the middle of the gym, tapping the microphone in his hands a few times before speaking into it. 

“Good morning, everybody!” 

A few half-hearted ‘good mornings’ were heard from the student body, and the man tugged at his beard as he looked out over the crowd. 

“I can tell you’re all just…thrilled to be here.” 

“That’s Principle Skywalker,” Rose whispered to Rey. 

“Well, even though I’m sure you’d all rather be sleeping right now, we are so happy to see you back. This is going to be a fantastic year!”

“It’s too early for someone to be that happy,” Rey whispered back, eliciting a small laugh from the girl beside her. A teacher standing nearby shot them a look that made both of the students look down guiltily, but when her eyes met Rose’s a moment later, they shared a secret smile that told her she’d made her first new friend. 

After talking for a few minutes about what sort of behavior was expected out of them and the “fun” things they could look forward to for that year, Principle Skywalker instructed the seniors to go out into the atrium to receive their homeroom assignments. Feeling several bodies and bookbags bumping into her, Rey made her way out of the double doors with Rose by her side. 

“…because the last history teacher was awesome,” Rose was telling her as they scanned for their names on the various homeroom listings. There were various pieces of paper with teachers’ names along the atrium’s walls that all the seniors were crowding around, and Rey was starting to feel claustrophobic for the first time in her life as she scanned them for “Rey Andor”.   
“And if they just get some coach to replace him for AP Government, I’m going to flip shit,” Rose continued. Then, all of a sudden, her finger darted out and pointed to one of the papers. “Hey, Rey, is this you?” 

Looking to where her friend was pointing, Rey saw her name under “Ms. Christie – Room 323”. 

“That’s me, alright,” she confirmed. 

“Oh, Ms. Christie is cool,” Rose assured her. “She comes off as being a hard-ass, but if you do what she says she can be really nice.” 

“Ah,” was all Rey said, not sure whether or not to be nervous about this teacher. “Do you know where Room 323 is?” 

“Yeah! It’s on the third floor. She’s on the science hall; just follow the signs.” 

“Alright. Well… I guess I’ll see you later?” 

Rose gave her an enthusiastic nod and a thumbs up before disappearing into the crowd in search of her own homeroom, and Rey took that as a sign to head to the third floor. After spending a moment searching for a flight of stairs, she set off in search of Ms. Christie’s homeroom, following the signs as Rose had instructed her too. 

Apparently, though, she wasn’t as great with directions as she’d previously thought, because she got twisted and turned around so many times that it was only several minutes later that she finally stepped into the right classroom, only to find it already full of her fellow classmates. An extremely tall blonde woman was passing out papers, but as soon as Rey stepped into the room, she paused and met her gaze. 

“What is your name?” she asked, and Rey was surprised to hear her speak in an accent similar to her own. 

“Rey Andor,” she answered, clutching the straps of her backpack tighter. “I’m sorry for…for being late. I got a little lost.” 

“Oh, that’s quite alright,” the teacher assured her, walking over to her desk to check the registry opened up on her computer. “Yes, I see you. Rey. Alright. Well take your seat; I was just passing out your schedules.” 

Rey tried to ignore the twenty-or-so pairs of eyes on her as she took the only desk available. It was on the second row, and she was suddenly regretting her choice to pull her hair back in her customary three buns. She felt as if she needed to hide behind her hair as she sank into the seat, but she settled for keeping her eyes on the floor until a few seconds passed. Only when she was confident no one was still staring at her did she brave a glance upwards to scan the room. 

Immediately as she did so, however, her eyes locked onto a pair of irises even darker than her own. They were set into the handsome face of the boy sitting next to her, and even though he was quick to dart his gaze downwards to the hands he was resting on his desk, the brief moment of eye contact sent the air in her lungs rushing out in a silent sigh. 

She studied his profile for a moment, taking in the downward tilt of his eyebrows, his full lips as they pressed firmly together, the way his white t-shirt contrasted with his dark, warm skin tone. A brown leather jacket was draped over the back of his chair, and for a short, illogical moment, Rey felt glad that he wasn’t wearing it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to see the swell of his arms as they reached upwards to take the schedule Ms. Christie was offering to him. 

“Mr. Solo,” the teacher huffed as he took the paper. “I trust you have no complaints about your classes?” 

For some reason, a few snickers were heard around the room at that comment, and the boy, whose last name was apparently Solo, ducked his head, shaking it slightly. Rey furrowed her eyebrows, feeling as if she was missing out on the joke. Was the boy some kind of trouble-maker? Had he complained about her class in the past? 

“Nah, I’m sure Finn will be fine with whatever he got,” a voice piped up from directly behind her, and Rey swiveled in her seat to watch the boy behind her reach forward and place his hand on the other boy’s arm. “Ain’t that right, Finn?” 

Finn didn’t respond at all, keeping his eyes on his paper, but the boy behind Rey looked upwards challengingly at Ms. Christie, as if daring her to say something else. The instructor merely pressed her lips together and handed him his own schedule. 

“Glad to hear it, Mr. Dameron,” she replied in clipped tones, spinning on her heel and walking towards a row of desks across the classroom. 

Rey turned back around, trying to keep her eyes on her own desk, but every now and then she found them drifting over to Finn. Every time she caught herself watching him out of the corner of her eye, she would feel her cheeks flush, and she would be quick to look back down at the schedule her teacher had handed to her a few moments ago. 

Overall, she didn’t feel too trepidatious about the classes themselves. They were all honor’s classes, but Rey was used to that. The only wild card she wasn’t expecting was theater. She’d purposefully avoided theater classes in the past; even though she’d never considered herself “shy”, she still didn’t feel totally comfortable with the idea of being in front of a dark auditorium under hot stage lights. She would rather be out in the crowd watching, thank you very much. 

But she let it go with a sigh, figuring that it could, potentially, be fun. Before she could form any opinions about her other courses, though, a loud, shrill dinging was heard over the intercom system, and before she realized what was going on, all of the students around her were getting up and making their way out of the classroom. Time for first period, she supposed. 

Looking to her left, she saw that Finn was once again looking at her, and this time she managed a small smile as she stood up to gather her things. 

“Hello,” she greeted him, trying not to focus on how cute he was. “I’m Rey. Do you know how to get to the English hall from here? I have British Lit for first period.” 

Finn paused as he slung his bag over his shoulder, his lips parting as if he was thinking over his response. Rey waited, making sure her smile stayed in place as he watched her. Maybe he was shy; she thought it was kind of endearing, the way his eyes skittered over her face as he formed his words. 

But, all of a sudden, Finn turned on his heel and nearly ran to the door of the classroom, leaving Rey standing there with her bag in her hand and a confused look on her face. Had she said something to make him uncomfortable? 

What had just happened?


	2. Chapter 2. Unspoken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! Thank you for all of the positive feedback for the first chapter. I wanted to mention that this story is based on the novel "The Only Alien on the Planet" by Kristen Randle. It's a fantastic book, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who would like to give it a try. Also, please let me know what you think about everything so far! I hope you all enjoy this second chapter!

Rey seemed to keep a perpetual frown as she went about her next few classes. She couldn’t get the image of Finn rapidly walking away from her out of her mind. And as she thought more and more about it, she found herself becoming more and more upset. She didn’t know whether she should be mad at herself for chasing him away or mad at him for blowing her off so abruptly. 

‘I wouldn’t be so obsessed with this if he was just less attractive,’ she thought to herself grouchily as she made her way to the lunch room. She had gotten through her first period English class without any noteworthy events taking place, and her calculus and visual arts classes had been boring but altogether fine. Aside from Rose, she still hadn’t had much of an opportunity to make any friends, but she thought that might change as she walked into the loud, crowded cafeteria. 

“Hey, Rey!” 

Turning around on her heel, Rey felt a relieved smile come over her face as she saw Rose jogging towards her, that bright, gleeful grin spread wide over her features. 

“Hello,” she greeted, falling into the lunch line with her companion. 

“I’m so glad we have the same lunch period,” Rose gasped, nearly out of breath from running over. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to warn you about the food here.” 

“Um… Should I be concerned?” 

“On any day when meatloaf is on the menu? Yes. Same goes for the baked ziti. You would think it would be hard to screw up noodles and canned tomato sauce, but… Well, I’m sure the lunch ladies try – they just don’t always succeed. Don’t worry, though. The chicken nuggets are fine. And the veggies were actually grown by the Horticulture class, so they’re pretty good.” 

Rose continued to list off the various menu items that wouldn’t give anyone food poisoning, and Rey listened with a small smile, making sure to load up her tray with chicken nuggets when the time came to get her food. Rose barely seemed to pause for breath between sentences, and she would often stumble over her words only to laugh at herself and keep going, but Rey thought it was endearing. Cute, even. 

As the two girls finished going through the line, Rey let her friend lead her over to a large table by the row of windows along the far wall. Sitting there, she noticed, was the boy from homeroom. Dameron, she thought his name was. 

“Hey, Poe! You have first lunch, too?” Rose asked, taking a seat across from the boy. Rey sat next to her, watching as Poe’s face seemed to light up upon seeing Rose. 

“Yeah! How was your summer? You went to Europe, right?” 

“Mm-hmm! Spain, specifically. This is Rey, by the way.” 

“Hey, Rey,” Poe smiled, giving her a little wave. “You’re in my homeroom, right?” 

“That’s right,” Rey nodded, opening her carton of milk. “With Ms. Christie.” 

Poe wrinkled up his nose at the name and rolled his eyes, stabbing his broccoli with his fork as if it had personally offended him. 

“Unfortunately, yes. I can’t stand her.” 

“She’s not that bad,” Rose defended. “She comes off as being strict, but as long as you do what she says-“ 

“It’s not her classes that bother me,” Poe interrupted. “It’s the way she treats Finn.” 

Rey’s ears perked up upon hearing Finn’s name, and a blush came over her cheeks as she yet again replayed the events from that morning. Trying not to seem too eager, she listened intently as Poe continued. 

“She’s always making these smartass remarks about him. I’d expect that sort of thing from some asshole our age, but a teacher? It’s jacked up. You should’ve seen her in Environmental Sciences last year. She wouldn’t give the poor guy a break!” 

“I mean… Yeah, that’s not okay,” Rose admitted. “I guess she just doesn’t like that he doesn’t participate.” 

“Or she just likes to pick on people who are different,” Poe countered. “Either way, at least Finn isn’t alone on her shit-list. I think she sent me to ISS four times last year for speaking up for him.” 

“Why does Ms. Christie pick on Finn?” Rey finally asked, curiosity itching at her. Both Rose and Poe’s eyes fell on her, and they each seemed to pause for a moment, as if thinking of how to answer her question. 

“Finn doesn’t talk,” Poe finally said. “Like… at all. Hasn’t said a word for as long as anyone can remember.” 

“He doesn’t speak? Is he mute?” Rey asked, furrowing her eyebrows. 

“Well… There’s nothing physically wrong with his voice,” Rose shrugged. “Apparently his parents had him tested and he’s totally healthy. No one really knows the exact reason why he doesn’t talk.” 

“But surely he says things outside of school. Right?” 

Poe shook his head, taking a large bite of pizza before answering. 

“Nope. I go over to his house sometimes, and his mom says she hasn’t heard his voice since he was 7 years old.” 

“Poe has kind of taken Finn under his wing,” Rose said, causing Poe to duck his head as he continued to eat. “He sticks up for him when people pick on him. And he talks to him even though he never gets any answers back.” 

“Finn has his own way of talking back, though,” Poe shrugged. “You just gotta learn how to interpret his…behavior, I guess. And I guess I just feel bad for the guy. Everyone needs a friend, right? And he’s never acted like he’s bothered by me hanging around.” 

Rey looked over the boy sitting across from her, warmth blooming in her chest at the kindness she could see in him. She didn’t know if she could keep trying to be friends with someone who never spoke back to her. 

“You seem like a really nice person, Poe,” she remarked, and a shy smile came to his face. 

“Well… See if you still have that opinion of me as you get to know me a little better. I can be a real pain in the ass if I put my mind to it,” he joked. Rose snorted beside her and nodded her head, mischief twinkling in her eyes. 

“Like that time you decided to run against me for class president?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

“Okay, look, you still won! You can’t still be upset about my…aggressive campaign.” 

“’Poe’s before Rose’?” 

“What? It was a catchy slogan. I saw the opportunity and I took it.” 

Rey laughed as the two kept bantering back in forth, but in the back of her mind she was still thinking about Finn. What could make him stop talking completely like that? Something had to have happened, right? At least now she knew why Finn all but fled from her that morning. 

After lunch, Rey had Civics and Economics, a class that she was silently dreading already. She didn’t truly understand anything about government – she would much rather be in the science labs than stuck in a stuffy classroom listening to Mrs. Kanata drone on and on about the structures of government. But she got through it with only a minor headache, and before she knew it she was walking into the auditorium for her last class – theater. 

As she walked down towards the stage, she saw a smattering of other students sitting in the first few rows, and she was surprised to see Finn sitting three rows back, hunched over a book that looked to be nearly a thousand pages long. Rey paused for a moment, standing a few feet away before making her way over to him, not knowing what was compelling her to approach him again after what happened this morning. 

“Is this seat taken?” she asked quietly, gesturing to the seat at the end of his row, just one away from his. Finn’s face lifted from his novel, and she thought she saw his eyes widen slightly at the sight of her. He quickly looked away, though, and offered a slight shake of his head before looking back down, and Rey took that as a no. 

Settling into the chair, Rey tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear before hesitantly speaking. 

“So I, uh… I sat with Poe at lunch,” she said, hoping she wasn’t bothering Finn too much by speaking to him. But something inside of her wanted to set things right, to let Finn know that she understood why he walked away that morning. “He explained to me that you don’t, erm… That you don’t talk.” 

She stopped, waiting to see if Finn would give her any reaction to that, but he kept his features schooled into a carefully neutral expression. She took that as a sign to keep trudging forward, so she took a deep breath before continuing. 

“I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, and I understand why you left in such a hurry. And… And I’m also sorry for the comment Ms. Christie made. I think it was wrong of her to speak that way to you.” 

Just as Finn’s eyes were lifting from his book, the theater teacher walked to the front of the stage and clapped his hands loudly to get everyone’s attention. He was an older gentleman, wearing a long, tattered beige cardigan and sporting a slightly rumpled beard. His eyes, even from a distance, were kind, though, and Rey found herself leaning forward in her seat as he began addressing them. 

“Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Mr. Kenobi, and you are in Intro to Theater. Now, how many of you signed up for this class?” 

The great majority of the students present raised their hands, and Mr. Kenobi gave a short nod upon seeing that. 

“Wonderful. Now how many of you got stuck in here because of some unfortunate scheduling?” 

Rey sheepishly raised her hand, noticing that Finn was tentatively raising his hand as well out of the corner of her eye. 

“A few of you, I see,” Mr. Kenobi commented, scanning the raised hands around the room. “Well, I am a firm believer that this class should be fun for everyone. Theater is about enjoyment. It’s about finding your place on, behind, or in front of the stage. If you’re sitting there hoping to God I don’t make you get in front of your peers to perform, then rest assured that won’t be happening. There’s a place here for everyone, and I hope that this class enriches you and teaches you to love the theater like I do.” 

Rey liked this guy already. Glancing over to Finn, she saw that a small, barely perceptible smile was on his lips, and they shared a brief moment, just half a second, when Rey was looking at Finn and Finn was looking at Rey, and no words needed to be exchanged. Poe’s voice floated to her from her memory, saying that Finn had his own way of speaking, and she suddenly understood. She could read that Finn was pleasantly surprised by their teacher as well, and a comradery had somehow been forged between the two adolescents. 

Rey had to look away for fear she’d start staring, but for some reason her heart was beating faster in her chest now. The moment passed quickly, though, as Mr. Kenobi started calling roll, and then the last class of the day begun. 

___________

Stepping into her house at the end of the day was a relief. Seeing whereas her school was only about a mile from her house, Rey had decided to walk home, and while she had enjoyed the opportunity to take in the sights of her new town, she hadn’t realized that there were so many rolling hills to go up and down. It had seemed to be a mostly-uphill hike, and though Rey had actually ran track just a few years ago in 9th grade, she still found herself out of breath as she walked into the kitchen. 

As she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, she heard the familiar sound of her dad whistling and turned around to see him smiling at her from the doorway. 

“How was your first day?” he asked, wiping his hands on a paint-stained rag he was holding. 

“It was…good,” Rey replied, feeling as if her head was spinning as she mentally recounted all of the events that had taken place. 

“Feeling a little overwhelmed?” her dad questioned. 

“Is it that obvious?” 

Cassian laughed and walked forward, setting his hand on her shoulder. 

“You just look like you really need a nap,” he explained. Rey shrugged his hand off, laughing at him. 

“You’ll get paint on my shirt!” she protested, checking her shoulder for any signs of the gray paint still staining the edges of her dad’s fingernails. He must have been painting the living room; Jyn had mentioned they would be doing that while Rey was at school. 

“Oh, this old thing? Didn’t this used to be mine?” 

Rey looked down at the baggy t-shirt she was wearing. It had, indeed, been her dad’s at one point in time. But he’d given it to her as a pajama shirt when she was about 12 years old, and ever since then it had been her favorite. It had “The Moody Blues” written across the chest, and The Moody Blues just happened to be Rey’s favorite band. So Cassian had let her keep it. 

“It’s mine now, Dad. You can’t have it back.” 

“So ungrateful. Where did I go wrong with my parenting?” 

Rey shoved his shoulder playfully and sipped her water, dabbing at some sweat still lingering on her forehead. 

“Dad? Do you think you can pick me up from school from now on?” 

“I thought you said you wanted to walk this morning after I dropped you off.” 

“Well… That was the plan, but I didn’t realize how many hills there are here.” 

“That’s because you’re used to the flat desert. The coast is a little different. Speaking of which, we’ve lived here for a whole day and we haven’t made it to the beach yet. It’s only 20 minutes away. You wanna come with me and your mom to see it tonight after dinner?” 

Just as Rey was about to answer, a knock was heard at the door, and Rey followed her dad as he went to answer it. Standing on its other side was a middle aged woman with long, curly black hair and a wide grin on her face. 

“Hi, there! I didn’t mean to intrude, but I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Shara Dameron; I live next door. I just wanted to say hi to the new neighbors,” the woman said, and Rey’s ears perked up at the last name. 

“Dameron? Do you know a Poe Dameron?” she asked. 

“Yes! That’s my son! Why? Has he done something to bother you already?” 

“No! No, not at all,” Rey laughed. “He’s actually very nice. I go to school with him.” 

“Oh, how wonderful! I had no idea. And what’s your name, dear?” 

Rey and Cassian both introduced themselves, and when she heard the commotion coming from the front door, Jyn came out of the living room in her paint-spattered clothes to introduce herself as well. The three adults carried on a (frankly boring) conversation about the neighborhood while Rey looked out the window at the house across the street, the one Shara said her and her family lived in. 

After just one day, Rey found herself with friends both at school and in the neighborhood. She didn’t want to jinx anything, but she thought that it was a sign of good things to come. It would be tolerable, she though, to live here for a year. Just until she could move back to California, of course.


	3. Study Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Thank you to anyone who is reading this who's been here since the beginning. I know it's been a very long time since I updated this fic, but I've been going through some very trying things in my personal life. Without getting into all of the details, I'll just say that I went through a bit of a struggle with drug usage and some self-harm practices, but I've managed, with the help of my dear family, friends, faith, and therapist, to become sober and on the path to recovery.  
> And with my new-found sobriety comes motivation to write! I thought I had lost it, but I honestly am so happy to have another chapter of this fic for you guys. I truly hope you all enjoy it! Please let me know what you think. I don't want to make any promises, but I think that updates will be coming much more regularly from now on...  
> Again, thank you guys so much, and please, enjoy chappy 3!

The beach in her new town was so much different from the ones she was used to. In California, the beaches had been rocky; she’d bruised and scratched her feet every time she’d foolishly decided to forgo shoes. The water had been cold, too, which hadn’t seemed like such a big deal when she’d been wearing one of her many wet suits. 

But here… Rey found herself giggling like a child as she felt the waves playfully lap at her ankles. After the first time she’d gone to the beach with her parents, she’d been hooked. She loved the feel of the sand between her toes. Sure, it could be coarse and rough, and it was irritating when she found it in her clothes later, but she still couldn’t find it in herself to care about it too much as she walked along the coastline. 

And so, Rey found herself wandering up and down the strip of beach closest to her home on a Friday evening, her sandals in hand and her eyes trained on the ocean. She’d just finished her first week of school, and her thoughts were racing with all that had transpired. She had found a small group of friends for herself – Rose had stuck to her like glue since that first day, determined to make her feel welcomed at her new school, and she felt like she was growing very close to Poe as well. He’d even stopped by her house on Wednesday to introduce her to his little brother and sister. They were cute kids, and they were very friendly, but Rey definitely preferred their older brother. Poe was kind and funny, and he was a constant source of amusement in the classes they shared. 

But, as they had tended to do so many times that week, her thoughts inevitably wandered back to Finn. She didn’t know why he was so intriguing to her. Yes, there was the mystery of what had caused his permanent silence, but she felt that there was something else there. Something deeper that resonated with her. 

For instance, there had been one day in theater when Mr. Kenobi had wanted the students to do vocal exercises. He’d been kind enough to allow Finn to sit out, not so much as batting an eye as he told the boy to “sit down and work on some homework” while the others made a range of strange vocalizations. Apparently, they were meant to broaden their voices’ ranges and strengthen their diaphragms, but Rey had a sneaking suspicion that they were just for the sly old man’s amusement. She felt as if her cheeks were on fire as she made a ridiculous series of “whoops” with the rest of her class, and to make matters worse, she’d caught Finn’s eye right in the middle of the activity. 

His eyes had held a mischievous glint within them, and one of his eyebrows were quirked up as he smirked at her. Despite her embarrassment, though, Rey had been unable to hold back her own grin when she saw the way he was looking at her. Yes, he was quiet, but there was still a vibrant person within him. She knew it. 

That being said, she’d felt increasingly nervous as she interacted with him. She didn’t know how he felt about people talking at him. What if it bothered him? What if he simply didn’t want to be interacted with? What if he was silently judging her the entire time she spoke to him? These doubts made her more and more apprehensive, until she started simply giving him shy smiles from across the room rather than go out of her way to talk to him. 

“Rey! Hey, Rey!” 

Rey stopped where she stood, turning to see Poe running up the beach towards her. He was carrying his own shoes, his feet slapping against the wet sand of the shore, and his hair was being whipped around by the sea breeze. Rey thought that he was very handsome at that moment; if it wasn’t so obvious that him and Rose were perfect for each other, she might find herself attracted to him. But as it was, she couldn’t see Poe ever being more to her than a friend. 

“Hi, Poe,” she greeted with a smile. Poe took a moment to catch his breath from his impromptu jog over before setting a hand on her shoulder and letting out a laugh. 

“I thought I’d never get your attention! I’d been calling you for a few minutes.” 

“Oh,” Rey said sheepishly, blinking in surprise. “I’m sorry. I was so lost in my thoughts that I guess I didn’t hear it.” 

“Lost in your thoughts, huh?” Poe started walking with her down the beach, looking over her face as he talked. “What were you thinking about?” 

Rey felt herself flush, and she hoped that it wasn’t written all over her face. She didn’t want anyone thinking she had a crush on Finn, even if it might have been slightly true. So she schooled her features into an indifferent look, shrugging off Poe’s words. 

“Oh, nothing. Just…school stuff.” 

“Ohhh,” Poe grinned knowingly, nudging her shoulder with his. “I think I know what it is.” 

Rey gulped, her eyes wide as she looked over at her friend. Was she really that obvious? 

“You’re worried about Mr. Windu’s calculus test, aren’t you?” he asked, and Rey let out a small huff of relief. 

“You caught me,” she weakly agreed. “I’ve never been the best with numbers.” 

“Well, luckily for both of us, we have the perfect study buddy to help us with it.” 

“Really?” Rey questioned. “Is Rose some kind of math genius or something?” 

“No,” Poe shook his head. “Well… Er, yes. Rose is good at every class she’s in. But she wasn’t who I was talking about!” 

Rey’s lips parted to ask who it was, but she soon realized just who Poe was referring to. Confusion wrote itself over her features, and she skeptically watched as Poe raised both of his eyebrows. 

“Finn? But…how can he study with us? Not to be mean, but…he doesn’t seem like he would be the best at explaining these things.” 

“Just trust me, Rey. He has his ways,” Poe assured her, steering them back towards the entrance to the beach. 

Rey was still doubtful, and evidently it appeared on her face, because she saw Poe’s smile faulter as he considered her. 

“Don’t tell me you have something against him. The guy is harmless; people don’t give him a chance-“ 

“Poe, I-I really don’t dislike Finn,” Rey was quick to object. “Not at all. Quite the opposite – I think he’s an…interesting person. But I just feel self-conscious just talking at him with no response. How do I know if I’m annoying him or not? What if he’s bothered by me trying to make conversation?” 

Poe considered this as he led Rey towards their street, pausing to slip his shoes back on before they could hit the hot pavement. 

“Well, Rey… I had the same questions once upon a time,” he mused. “I felt bad for the guy, so I started hanging around him. One day, I found some punks beating Finn up behind the gym, so I punched their lights out and told Finn I’d walk him home to make sure they wouldn’t try to bother him again. Once I got there, I told his mom why he had a black eye and explained the situation, and… Rey, she looked like someone had just given her the world, just for being a friend for her son. 

“She asked me if I wanted to come over for dinner sometime, and I said yes. Honestly, Finn’s folks are good people. They adopted him when he was a baby, and they’re obviously really proud of him despite his…differences. I mean, he’s practically a genius, what with his grades, and they were so thrilled that I was looking out for him.” 

“That’s…really great to hear, Poe,” Rey interrupted, “But it sounds like his parents are the ones that like you being around. How do you know Finn feels the same way?” 

“Well, around the third time I came to their house, Leia, his mom, pulled me to the side. She said that she saw Finn’s face light up every time the doorbell rang, all because it might be me there to see him. That…that really stuck with me. And Finn, he isn’t really subtle about not liking people. If he doesn’t like you, he just walks away. And he’s never walked away from me.” 

Rey pondered over this, looking down at her sandy toes as they wiggled in her flip flops. Finn had never walked away from her, either. And…she’d seen him smile at her before. Right? 

“I think he likes you, you know.”

Rey’s head snapped up upon hearing Poe say that, and a playful gleam came to his eyes. 

“I mean it. You don’t notice the way he looks at you. I think…I think he wants to be your friend.” 

“But you can’t know,” Rey pointed out, and Poe nodded, turning down their street with her. 

“No, I can’t. But I know enough about Finn to have faith that I’m right about this. And a little bit of faith can go a long way.” 

___________

Rey pulled at the fabric of her t-shirt nervously as she stood on Finn’s doorstep, her eyes glancing over at Poe as he rocked back and forth on his heels, seemingly without a care in the world. Here she was, nearly hyperventilating with nerves, while he idly whistled, looking over the neat front of the Solo homestead. 

They stood before a two-story house with a large wrap-around porch, its white siding contrasting nicely with its blue shudders, and Rey found herself admiring the neatly cut grass and trimmed hedges of azaleas that made up the front lawn. Finn’s family must be well-off, she figured, to be able to afford such a large house so close to the ocean. He was barely a five-minute’s walk away, and Rey wondered if he went to the beach often, if he liked it as much as she did. 

Her musings were interrupted when a middle-aged woman answered the door, her brown hair tied back in an elaborate, braided style. Rey’s first impression was to be intimidated by her; she was wearing a matching set of pearls on her necklace and in her earrings, and her outfit consisted of brown trousers and a fancy cardigan that Rey thought must be worth more than her entire wardrobe. But then she saw her eyes, and how her smile managed to reach them effortlessly. 

“Poe! It’s so good to see you,” she warmly greeted the boy. Her gaze turned to Rey, her interest in the girl written clearly in her expression. “And who is this?” 

“This is Rey,” Poe introduced, smiling fondly at his friend. “She’s new in town. Me and Finn have been hanging out with her at school, and I was wondering if she could join our study session today.” 

“Oh! Of course, it’s fine with me. So you’re a friend of Finn’s?” Mrs. Solo asked, and Rey nodded quickly, though she didn’t know if she would have defined herself as his ‘friend’. She would like to be his friend, she thought. Yes, she would enjoy that very much, but she still wasn’t sure how he felt about her, despite what Poe had said the previous day. 

“Yes, Mrs. Solo,” she answered respectfully. 

“Oh, please,” the woman sighed, grinning as she rolled her eyes playfully. “Please, just call me Leia. Besides, I kept my maiden name when I married Han. Please, come inside.” 

The woman waved the two teenagers inside, and Rey was immediately given the impression that Leia was one hell of a woman. Her demeanor oozed confidence and kindness, and her eyes held a sharp intelligence that she could see had transferred to her son. Maybe Finn wasn’t related to her in blood, but Rey already got the sense that he’d inherited her wit. 

“Please, make yourselves at home,” Leia instructed them. “I’ll go tell Finn you two are here. I think he just got out of the shower.” 

“Thanks, Leia,” Poe called after the woman as she headed toward a set of stairs tucked into the corner. He guided Rey past the small entry room and into the living area, plopping himself down into an overstuffed armchair and gesturing for her to sit on the sofa in front of him. 

“She’s cool isn’t she?” he asked, nodding toward the direction Finn’s mom had walked off in. 

“I definitely get that vibe,” Rey agreed. “I have a feeling she’d be the mom who would give you a beer and tell you she’d rather you drink in the house.” 

Poe laughed at that, opening the bookbag he’d been carrying on his shoulders to take out his notebooks. 

“I don’t know about that one, chief. She’s cool, but she’s been a lawyer for about three decades. She can mean business if she wants to.” 

“A lawyer?” Rey repeated, impressed. “Wow. What does Finn’s dad do?” 

“I think he owns a car dealership on the edge of town,” Poe shrugged. “I know it’s something with cars. He’s always working out in his garage, at least.” 

This piqued Rey’s interest. She’d held a fascination with cars ever since she was a little girl. Her dad hadn’t necessarily shared her passion, but he’d taught her how to jump off a car, how to change a tire, and how to change a car’s oil, and ever since then she’d enjoyed learning about them. She’d even taken an auto-shop class when she was a sophomore, and despite the teasing she’d underwent from her classmates (who had all been boys), she’d passed with flying colors. 

“Huh. I wonder what kind of cars he sells.” 

“Well I know he drives a mustang-“ 

Poe was interrupted when the sound of footsteps could be heard descending the staircase, and the two adolescents turned to see Finn standing there, a surprised look on his face as he glanced between Poe and Rey. 

“Finn! Hey, buddy. I brought Rey with me to study for Windu’s exam. You know I suck with numbers,” Poe greeted, giving his friend a jaunty little wave. 

After a moment, Finn blinked once, then twice, and finally made his way over to the couch, eyeing Rey as if she were a specimen under a microscope, trying to figure her out. Her cheeks heated under his gaze, but she forced a smile to come over her face as she watched him sit down as far from her as the sofa allowed. 

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She’d decided to wear it down today – not because she’d wanted to look nice for Finn, of course. It was for…other reasons. She didn’t have to explain herself. “Poe told me you’re a genius when it comes to this sort of thing.” 

Finn ducked his head at her words, looking sheepish, and reached for one of the textbooks sitting on the coffee table in front of them. Without any further ado, Rey reached for her own backpack, which was resting at her feet, and pulled out the corresponding one. In her excitement/worry/hesitance to join Poe at Finn’s house, she’d almost forgotten how much she hated calculus, and she’d almost forgotten that the whole point of this little visit was to study it for a test. Now, as she turned to the chapter they’d been going over in the week previous, she all but groaned as she saw problem after problem awaiting her, all centered around how to use sine, cosine, and tangent. As if she would ever need to use this information in the real world. 

“Ok,” Poe sighed, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. “So, I figure I’ll take the first third of the page, and Finn, you’ll take the second third. Rey, you can work backwards from the bottom, and then we’ll all compare answers. Sound good?” 

“It sounds borderline torturous,” Rey mumbled, pulling out a pencil to begin working. 

“That’s the spirit.” 

Over the next few minutes, the three students worked in silence, Finn finishing his portion of the work way before either of his two companions. Rey bit her lip when she noticed that, wondering if she was holding him back from doing his own studying, scared that she was slowing him down or appearing dumb. 

“You’re…really good at this,” she murmured, eyes flitting over the neat handwriting that covered his notebook page. 

One of Finn’s eyebrows jumped a bit at that, and, almost imperceptibly, he shrugged one of his shoulders, as if to brush off her comment. 

“No, I mean it,” she protested. “All of this is just gibberish to me. But you’ve already finished your problems.” 

“And now,” Poe announced, finishing off whatever he was writing with a flourish, “so have I. So I’m going to ask your lovely mom if I can have some water and do some reconnaissance on what you have in your snack cabinet, and then we will discuss.” 

With that, Poe leapt up from his chair, leaving his friends in search of something to eat. Rey watched him go, silently panicking at being left alone with Finn. Should she talk? What if she didn’t? Would the silence be awkward? 

Before she could do anything, she saw Finn’s hand creep into her field of vision, his index finger coming to rest over the last problem she’d been working on. Looking down at what he was indicating, she surveyed her work. 

“What is it?” she asked, looking back to him. “Do you want to know the answer? It’s sine = 42.” 

Finn quickly shook his head, and Rey let out a little huff. Sure, she didn’t like math, and she wasn’t the best at it, but after glancing over her work for a second time, she could find no fault with it. 

“42, right?” she repeated, but Finn just barely shook his head. Arching an eyebrow at him, she scooted closer and handed him her pencil. 

“Alright, then. Show me how YOU would do it.” 

And that he did. With quick movements, Finn reworked the problem from its beginning, slowing down during certain steps of the equation to silently show her what she’d been doing wrong. Without any words, he was managing to explain the problem to her, and she quickly realized that the actual answer was very far from 42. 

“…Ok,” she finally admitted upon seeing the real answer to the question. “Maybe it’s not 42. Maybe it’s 137. But I mean…137 is a little close to 42, right?” 

Finn squinted his eyes at her and quirked his lips up, shaking his head again. Rey let out a soft chuckle, looking back down at her notebook. 

“Yeah… I guess you have a point. I’ll never doubt you when it comes to math again,” she vowed. “But at least I’m better at Mr. Kenobi’s exercises than you are.” 

For a second, she was afraid she’d overstepped her bounds by mentioning, even underhandedly, his refusal to speak. But Finn’s smile only became wider, and he shrugged once more, a small flash of his straight, white teeth visible in his grin. He had a very handsome smile, Rey realized. She would like to see it more often. 

The moment shared between the two teenagers was interrupted when Poe came walking back into the room, carrying a bag of hot Cheetos, a bottle of hot sauce, and a pair of chopsticks in his hands. 

“Guys, I just had an amazing idea.” 

Wordlessly, Finn and Rey watched as Poe opened the bag of Cheetos, dumped what Rey thought to be an ungodly amount of hot sauce into the bag, and started eating the concoction with the chopsticks, all the while grinning like a madman. 

“Guys, this is so good. Like, you wouldn’t even believe.” 

Another beat of silence was heard, the only sound in the room being Poe’s chewing, before Rey burst out laughing and reached for her phone, snapping a picture of her friend. 

“Poe…You’re going to die before you reach forty.” 

Next to her, she heard Finn let out a soft exhalation, and she spun around to see his shoulders lightly falling up and down with suppressed laughter. His grin now stretched from ear to ear, and, while she couldn’t be sure, she thought that the tiny breath she’d heard him let out was a hint of laughter. Even as she thought it, she knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help but feel like it was one of the most beautiful sounds she’d ever heard. 

“What?!” Poe protested, looking between them. “C’mon, don’t knock it until you try it! Rey, come on. Get in on this.” He tried to hand the bag and the chopsticks to her, but she adamantly refused, pushing them back towards him. 

“No. NO way. I don’t want to develop a stomach ulcer.” 

“Oh, whatever. Finn, my man. Back me up on this. I promise it’s good.” 

Finn seemed to hesitate, and to Rey’s astonishment, he actually reached for the bag, taking hold of the chopsticks and hesitantly extricating a sauce-drenched Cheeto from inside. 

“Finn, come on,” she giggled, “You’re supposed to be a kid genius, here. Think it through.” 

He looked back to her, eyes glinting, and cocked his head as if to say ‘why not’ before eating the monstrosity before him. 

Finn’s two companions watched for a second as he chewed, and almost immediately his face scrunched up and he thrust the bag back to Poe, getting up and running into the kitchen only to come back a few seconds later with a bottle of water. Rey’s laughter only increased as he began to chug it, flashing an accusatory look at Poe as he reclaimed his seat on the couch. 

“Oh, c’mon, Finn! It’s not that bad! What, can you not handle a little heat?” 

And then Rey watched, in shock, as Finn raised his middle finger at Poe.


End file.
